Acupuncture Rocker Pulse And Acupoints Treatment Of Senile Dementia

More and more old people have got a longer life expectancy, with which, however, the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) increases. The nations and medical organizations all over the world are paying more attention to the prevention and therapeutic treatment of AD. China has the biggest population in the world, so the domestic development of AD will certainly be highlighted.The project focuses on the effect of the acupoints, Zhaohai and Shenmai, to treat AD through Heel Meridians, and puts forword the hypothesized pathological pathway on the basis of the relationship between Heel Meridians and Brain. Experimental and theoretical studies are carried out.The theorctical study of TCM involves three sections: the independence of Heel Meridians, the belonging of Zhaohai and Shenmai, and the role Heel Meridians play in modulating the function of brain. The study on the ancient records about Heel Meridians proves that Yin Heel Meridian goes in the midst of Foot Taiyin Meridian and Foot Shaoyin Meridian, and Yang Heel Meridian goes in the midst of Foot Taiyang Meridian and Foot Shaoyang Meridian, which means Heel Meridians are independent in the Meridian System. The review insight of the position of acupoints around Zhaohai and Shenmai in ancient books indicates that these two acupoints don't respectively belong to Foot Shaoyin Meridian/Foot Taiyang Meridian, but to Yin/Yang Heel Meridian. In the last section, the pathological structure of AD, "Circuit of Heel Meridians" is proposed, which plays an important part in balancing the function of brain's Yin and Yang if Zhaohai and Shenmai are stimulated. The experimental study includes the influence of needling Zhaohai and Shenmai on the cholinergic system in CNS and on the learning & memory ability. The animal models are made by injecting D-galactose under skin of mice at nape, in view of the chronic process of AD, the Wholism of TCM and the recognized Cholinergic Hypothesis. And the method of making animal models proves reasonable and credible by the result of pre-experiment and formal experiment. We select the direct and indirect indice to observe the effect of needling: the direct index is acytel-cholinesterase in cortex, which reflects the conditions of cholinergic neurons; the indirect indice are SOD and MDA in hippocampus, which reflect the function of antioxidation and thereby the synthesis of acytelcholine; another index is from the Water Maze Test, which shows the learning & memory ability of the models. Results: by needling Zhaohai and Shenmai, the concentration of acytel-cholinesterase in cortex and the activity of SOD increase, and the concentration of MDA and Errors in Water Maze Test decrease meanwhile. The results are significantly different from the controls, which means that the needling contributes to the restore of the impaired cholinergic system, the antioxidaton in CNS and the improvement of learning & memory ability, and has therapeutic effects for AD.Altogether, the acupuncture in the acupoints of Zhaohai and Shenmai, is able to treat AD experimentally and theoretically, and the pathological structure, "Heel Meridians—Brain Pathway" is a new one for AD's therapeutic strategy, worthy of further studies in the future.